The girls of XELLE aim to make Fall the hottest season of the year with their latest mega pop club banger, “Sweat.” The track pokes fun at America’s obsession with fitness. It’s a little bit naughty, a way bit over the top. “It’s about flirting, feeling confident and giving in to your wild desires,” says diva Rony G. “It’s the mantra playing in your mind when you see that hot guy across the bar and you know it’s time to make a move,” says JC Cassis. “Sweat” is available on iTunes now. See XELLE perform it live at the fifth annual Get Out! Awards at shadow Boxers on October 5.
Are you often mistaken for drag queens?
JC Cassis: We’re mistaken for drag queens, transwomen, fraternal twins and full-figured Barbie dolls.
Rony G: We’re really just two gals singing pop songs in crazy outfits.
What do you do to keep yourselves in shape?
Rony G: We think about how we should exercise more than we actually do it.
JC Cassis: We work out in other ways! Carrying shopping bags, strutting down the street, pretending we’re on a fashion runway, picking up heavy suitcases filled with heels and corsets on our way to a show.
Rony G: And dance rehearsals. They’re a heck of a workout!
Is there pressure for divas to keep in shape?
JC Cassis: Life in pop music is definitely easier if you keep yourself in the best shape possible, but the great thing about XELLE is that we’ve always promoted a message of loving yourself as you are. Our fans don’t mind if we’re a little curvier. Men on the street in New York really don’t mind.
Why do you think gay men obsess over fitness?
Rony G: One guy back in the ‘60s got super fit and attracted all the guys. Everyone else then realized that if they wanted a date, they were going to have to compete with the fittest guy at the bar. Luckily, today, there’s room for bears, twinks, otters, big guys and everyone in between. Whatever your body type, someone’s into you.
Jane Fonda: legit or charlatan?
JC Cassis: We love Jane! She is an inspiration for how to look hot over 70. We want to do whatever she’s doing!
Suzanne Somers?
Rony G: When we’re vegging out on the couch late at night with a midnight snack, she serves up some of our favorite infomercial realness.
What do you hope fans take away from Sweat?
Rony G: We want them to laugh a lot, and, who knows, maybe we’ll inspire them to try a crazy new fitness regimen.
JC Cassis: While the lyrics are sexy and suggestive, the video is silly, over-the-top funny and lighthearted.
What is XELLE’s favorite guilty pleasure?
JC Cassis: Dark chocolate. We take it with us wherever we go.
XELLE performs “Sweat” live at the Get Out! Awards at Shadow Boxers on October 5. Visit XELLEmusic.com.
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